Woman Severely Disabled After Childbirth Seeks Visitation With Her Triplets

A disastrous series of childbirth issues that left Abbie Dorn in what some describe as a vegetative state with no possibility of recovery has now moved on, legally, from the $33 million malpractice settlement with which her parents are funding a $33,000-a-month rehabilitation program that they say has achieved significant improvement in her condition.

Her current court battle is with her ex-husband, for a chance to win visitation from their triplets, explains the Los Angeles Times in a lengthy article. She hasn’t seen them since 2007, when they were 17 months old; her ex-husband, Dan Dorn, says it would be too upsetting for them. He also reportedly has told his former in-laws that he wants to move on with his life.

A trial is scheduled next month in the Los Angeles County Superior Court case, in which she seeks a court-ordered visitation. He is seeking child support.

Attorney Vicki Greene, who represents Dan Dorn, says his ex-wife isn’t even capable of making a decision to seek visitation, due to her brain injury, let alone interacting with her children.

“Our position is that it’s really the grandparents talking, not Abbie, it’s the grandparents’ desire, not Abbie’s,” she explains to the Times. And the grandparents, Greene says, do not have standing to seek visitation.